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Pat Sullivan: Summer care for annual plants

Annual plants will thrive longer if they are cut back and fertilized midway through the growing season.

INDIANAPOLIS — If those plants you bought at the start of the summer have bloomed and are now getting leafier, it may be time to cut them back.

Pat from Sullivan Hardware and Garden explained on 13Sunrise how trimming plants at mid-summer can encourage a second growth spurt that will allow the plant to bloom again and last into the fall. Using garden shears or nippers, cut about six inches of growth that hangs outside the plant's pot. 

Although it may feel like you are damaging the plant and robbing its remaining flowers, you will actually see even more blooms when it regenerates.

Regular fertilizing will help this process. Pat recommends a generous dousing of liquid plant food mix every week to spur new growth. Just mix the fertilizer in a bucket and pour it over the plant. 

Watch his full segment in the video player.

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